Week Five

Guten Tag, from the MTC,

 

So I am so excited that the weeks are just flying by!  Only 4 more weeks till we go out to the field and only one more week till the new german elders get here.  That is pretty much the only super exciting news around here, just waiting to meet all the new elders.  That and we were able to go to the temple for the first time today.  The temple has been closed for the entire time we have been here, but finaly opened up and we were able to go to a session.  It was so nice to just relax and not worry about any german and just feel the spirit so strong.  OH... and the food! I never thought that temple food would taste so heavenly, but compaired to the MTC food we have been eating, it was lovely.

 

Again my list of accomplishments are impressive for this week.  I still have not missed a day flossing, which is a miracle.  The ability to swallow some of the food here is quite the accomplishment.  I know I said this last week, but for any of you that are going to be serving a mission soon, dont eat the corn.  It tastes like an ash tray.  I dont know what they do to it, but it cant be sanitary.  And our district beat the other german district in soccer this week, as well as volleyball.  Other than that life here at the MTC always feels like yesterday and I cant really remember much.

 

German is coming along really great.  We are getting to the point were we can walk into a room and have complete conversations with pretty much anyone, and I can understand just about everything.  However, I fear that everything is going to change the moment I get to Germany.  But that doesn't matter because we will be missionaries out preaching the gospel and I am so excited.  We are now up to 5 fake investigator that we are teaching.  Which means that we have atleast three lessons everyday and they are all auf Deutch.  I have found that some words are starting to come more easily in german.  I cant even remember the last time I said thank you or excuse me in english.  My prayers are now completely in german.  I went to start a prayer in english at one of our group workshop things, and I had a hard time transitioning.  5 weeks ago, I would have never thought it was possible.

 

Other than that we have not had much excitement here at the MTC.  We were able to watch a talk by Elder Ballard on Sunday.  Listening to Elder Ballard always brings mixed emotions.  He is crazy intense, then funny, then scary, then incredibly spiritual.  He talked about the importance of missions and the ability that they have to completely change your life.  It was inspiring and really uplifting.  I feel as if I am barely starting to realize the magnitude of this work that is going on here.  I feel like I have never quite realized the importance that a single missionary can have, not only on his life but on those he chooses to serve.  I say chooses because this work is just that, work.  And I have seen missionaries look at this mission as an opportunity to recieve blessings, but I feel like that is only a small part.  The biggest blessing that comes is developing a personality similar to Christ.  If we do not come to a firm knowledge of the desires and works of Christ, then we can not reach our potential as missionaries.

 

I am so excited to serve those in germany.  Whomever it may be, the need for help and words of encoragement are needed by all, and who better to give that than Christ.  He has truely been there with us, and knows and feels the way we do.  So my greatest hope is that I can be an extension, or an instrument, to spread the love and joy of Christ.

 

The other thing that was cool that I learned this week during study was about hope.  We were reading about faith and the importance of faith in Ether, when there was a verse that quickly stated the importance of hope.  It was then that I realized that hope is the happy part of faith.  Faith is a necessity, but with out hope, faith is nothing.  Faith because you fear the consequences is not trusting in our Heavenly Father.  It is only after developing hope that we can feel the love and joy that accompany faith in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.  We should always be proclaiming faith in Christ, but we should never forget that it is because of our faith that we can rely on hope as a source of joy.

 

I have had so much fun while out so far.  Even in these 6 weeks I have felt the spirit so strong and I know that I have grown and developed closer to my Savior.  This is truely a happy time in my life and it has brought me much joy to be always in the service of others.  This is a joy that surpasses any sort of happiness ever felt, and I know that it is because it is a joy similar to the joy of Christ.  And I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity.

 

 

 

Elder Blackley